Schematic Software

[gtrmac]

What software are y'all using to draw schematics? I'm familiar with Altium CircuitStudio but it's tedious editing the libraries in this program. Anything simpler would be nice.

[Willabe]

There's a topic board here for DYI. Has lots of information on how to use it and lots of premade layout parts. Makes really great looking layouts and schematics. 

https://el34world.com/Forum/index.php?board=26.0

[kagliostro]

I use only Visio for layout and sometime for schematics but the more, for schematics, I use the simple (and Free) FidocadJ
(the stable version at the moment is 0.24.8 but there is also an interesting 0.24.9 version)

https://sourceforge.net/projects/fidocadj/

There are many components specific for tube amp schematics

Franco

[passaloutre]

I just use LTSpice. It doesn't make beautiful, presentation-worthy schematics, but it does have the added bonus of being able to simulate the circuits I make in it. That's way more useful to me than having a pretty picture.

[EL34]

DIYLC
https://el34world.com/Forum/index.php?board=26.0

[passaloutre]

DIYLC is some of the most painful software I’ve ever used (and I have to deal with Microsoft Teams on a daily basis!), and I directly attribute to it my decision to go all point-to-point in my amps.

[EL34]

I think DIYLC is very easy to use

[jbrrrrr]

DIYLC is some of the most painful software I’ve ever used

There's a number of classic graphic software features that it is lacking which would make it less mentally taxing.  I guess if you've never used Illustrator or Inkscape, it might not seem that bad, but - the lack of any sort of align/distribute objects alone - makes me audibly sigh at least once every time I use it.  Trying to horizontally align 20+ objects strictly by eyeballing to a grid is some dark ages methodology.

Not looking to bash it by any means; I'm grateful to Bancika for the contribution of free software that is continuously maintained, but there's also some features that seem to be willfully refused to incorporate at this point in its release cycle.

[passaloutre]

I actually quite like illustrator and inkscape for schematic drafting. I’ll stick with LTSpice. Like I said it has the advantage that your  schematics can actually be tested when you’re done drawing them.

[Kaptinkangaru]

EasyEDA or KiCad are both free and relatively easy to learn how to use. EasyEDA has the advantage(to me) of being online based, but many people swear by KiCad.

[fossilshark]

Kicad really is the best freeware. I used EasyEDA as a kid but ever since I started working in the real electronics industry Kicad has been the best way to draw schematics and design PCBs.

Yes, it is a steep learning curve. Any CAD program is. Kicad being open source means its community and industry support is unmatched in my opinion.

If you ever make the jump to designing PCBs, 8/10 times it is as simple as going to mouser, finding the part you want to use, and hitting a download button and boom you have the symbol, footprint, and 3d model already installed into kicad.